Well another day another dollar, or in my case another day another free labor. Yes, folks, I am back at CONAN, resuming my role as a Basic Cable Intern if for but a few more short weeks.

Being home was a joy. Things happened, people were seen, lives were changed- I guess. I graduated from Indiana University. That’s noteworthy. It was pretty cool, walking into Assembly Hall for the ceremony. I made Kevin and our friend, Taylor, lie about their last names so we could all sit in the “E” section of the alphabet. Like

Despite the lack of gowns and cap on Kevin, I swear we graduated.

always, my grandparents managed to get the best seat in the house, and sat on the floor a few rows behind me. I’m sure if we’d stuck a robe on them, people would have mistaken them for graduates. It feels so good to be finished with school and so equally terrifying to be now a member of the “real world”.

After graduation I spent a week in Indy. Kevin who had been carrying a special surprise around him for almost a month prior, finally shared with me the gift that keeps on giving: a sinus viral infection! I spent the good majority of my week sneezing, coughing, and working through a terrible fever while dog sitting for my folks- all with a smile on my face! THANKS, KEVIN!

All that sickness fun aside, after first week as a college graduate, it was time to get back to work and fly back out to CONAN to finish up my internship. I could not have had a better first day back. Aside from the awkwardness of walking into a kitchen full of brand new faces, it felt like I hadn’t been away at all. Since I stepped down from the Talent Intern position, I basically float to whoever or whatever department needs me. On Monday that meant the stage crew. They needed a female stand in for lighting and staging rehearsals, and as a female who can stand and be quiet at the same time, I was the perfect candidate. WELL it just so happened that the bit they were working on for the day was a piece for the Monologue where Conan was going to give one fan a “crazy new” picture for their facebook page. The props guys had rigged up a set piece that looked like an aerial view of a bed. Conan and his guest were to stand up in front of the piece so it would look like the two of them were “in bed” together. I stood in as the audience guest all morning with several Conan stand ins for lighting purposes. Then, finally it was rehearsal time. I was told to stay put so I did. When it came time to rehearse the bit, Conan himself came up to the audience and picked me out for practice. He asked my name and where I was from- we had to practice this part several times, so maybe he actually knows my name now! Then we stood next to each other in front of the bed set piece, and made faces that would be perfect for a new facebook picture. Needless to say, it was the best rehearsal ever. The proof is in the pudding, and some of my intern friends snapped pictures of us on the monitors.

The next day my Stand In duties continued. I got the privilege of kissing the business end of Teddy Jr., the fictional Ted Turner’s bison during rehearsal. Ted Turner on

Small Screen Magic

CONAN is played by SNL great Will Forte so being yelled at by him to kiss Teddy Jr. was totally worth it.

Two days in a row of being in the thick of it onstage was awesome.

The rest of the week was pretty slow. We taped two show on Monday and one on Tuesday, making Monday a long first day to be back. But it was also nice to be thrown back into it. Wednesday through Friday we did not tape shows because Conan and some other players on staff had to go to Upfronts, which is a big meeting held for advertisers. At Upfronts different networks bring out all the shows they plan on having for the rest of the year and promote them to get the advertising needed for them . Without tapings, the rest of the week went extremely slow. I did a lot of internet scouring and ever task I was given, I made sure to figure out the best way to do it as to eat up as much time as possible.

That is usually NOT the case for CONAN. It is usually busy ALL the time, but when you don’t have a show, there aren’t as many errands or tasks to be done that needed to be done yesterday.

Here’s to another week at CONAN!!

CALIFORNIA IS DIFFERENT:

27) CHATTY CATHIES: This past weekend I saw my first movie at a real theatre in LA. I went to an AMC, paid $12.50 and saw my favorite movie of the year thus far, Bridesmaids. It was hilarious and I loved it. I was excited to see a movie in LA at a real theatre despite the price tag. Looking forward to the next two and a half hours ahead of me, I relaxed in my chair and put my feet up, ready for some previews. That’s when it all started. People in the audience with me were making very loud comments about every preview: “OHHH That looks good!” “Ugh, Another one of THESE movies?” “OH I JUST LOVE TOM HANKS!”. I thought this was just a preview-phase thing, so I grinned and bared it. Unfortunately, it continued through THE ENTIRE MOVIE!!!! I don’t know if this was a freak incident, but I am going to go ahead and make a blanket statement about the entire state of California: They can’t shut up through a movie.

28) The dogs in California must be the most perfectly prepped and pampered dogs in the country. In the two mile stretch of Magnolia Blvd I take from my house to Burbank, there are about 10 different dog grooming shops. All are still in business and all have some cutesy play-on-words name like “EuPHURia,” “HollyWOOF,” or “Pimp my POOCH.” It boggles the mind how well tuned up the California K-9s must be.